Sitharaman visits poet Bharathi's memorial in TN, pays respects

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday paid rich tributes to legendary poet Bharathi at his memorial in Ettayapuram near here, marking his 100th death anniversary.On a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu, Sitharaman and Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan visited the ancestral house of Bharathi, also known as Subramaniya Bharathi, and paid their respects, sources said.The house where Bharathi lived for several years has been converted into a memorial.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday paid rich tributes to legendary poet Bharathi at his memorial in Ettayapuram near here, marking his 100th death anniversary.

On a two-day visit to Tamil Nadu, Sitharaman and Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting L Murugan visited the ancestral house of Bharathi, also known as Subramaniya Bharathi, and paid their respects, sources said.

The house where Bharathi lived for several years has been converted into a memorial. Sitharaman garlanded the statue of the late poet and also signed the visitor's register. Later, she released a book on Bharathi and the first copy was received by Murugan.

''Smt Nirmala Sitharaman visits the house that Mahakavi Bharathi lived in for many years in Ettayapuram, which is now a museum, and garlands the statue of the great poet and writer. Union Minister of State L Murugan is also present,'' Nirmala Sitharaman's office tweeted. A photo exhibition commemorating 100th death anniversary of Bharathi was inaugurated by Finance Minister on the occasion.

Later, Sitharaman held a meeting with district authorities of Virudhunagar, which was declared as an aspirational district in 2018 by the Niti Aayog to enable focussed development in the region.

''This is my third visit to the district. We have been reviewing the development status of the district which has emerged as an aspirational district.. It is progressing, we have told them to expedite further..,'' she told reporters.

''This time we told them to achieve the desired growth by March 2022 on all parameters including health, education, sanitation. The growth is measured based on these five-six indicators..'', she said.

Noting that two farmers' mandi, of the total seven located in the region, have been covered under the Centre's eNAM (electronic National Agriculture Market) scheme, she said, ''we have asked the district administration to include the remaining five.'' To a query on bringing petrol and diesel under the Goods and Services Tax ambit, she said it has to be decided by the GST Council. ''... it is the GST council that should take a decision'', she said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)